by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
In a continuing effort to maintain and create jobs locally, a group of Jacksonville businessmen have been chosen to help develop a City ordinance that will give preference in the awarding of private service contracts to businesses headquartered here.
City Council member Daniel Davis has been developing an ordinance, 2008-1055, that will give preference in the awarding of City private service contracts to businesses based on the size of their presence in Jacksonville. For example, a business headquartered in Jacksonville would receive more points in the evaluating process than a business headquartered in another part of the state or outside Florida. Local businessmen have expressed concern that companies that have a sizable presence in Jacksonville, but are not headquartered here, would not be treated fairly in the system. In listening to these comments, Davis and the Seaport-Airport Special Committee created a group to develop suggestions to improve the ordinance.
“Understanding it is critical for the city to help improve job opportunities for local companies,” said Davis, “I am asking six people from the private sector to work together and recommend uniform best practices through the PSEC (Private Services Evaluation Committee within the City’s Procurement Division) process that will create and maintain local jobs.”
Sam Mousa of J.B. Coxwell Planning and Engineering and Mike Holcomb of PBS&J will co-chair the committee. Doug Miller of England-Thims & Miller, Tom Atkins of HDR, Greg Edmonds of Ellis & Associates and David Kemp of Ayers and Associates will also sit on the committee. Davis also asked Alan Mosley, the City’s chief administrative officer, to represent the City’s administration on the committee.
The group has been asked to submit its recommendations to the Seaport-Airport Committee in 60 days. Davis plans to meet with the chairs of the newly created committee to establish a meeting schedule.
Shortly after the memo was released on Tuesday, City Council member John Crescimbeni asked Davis if their were any architects on the committee.
“No, there are not,” said Davis during the Seaport-Airport Committee meeting on Tuesday, “but the committee chairs have the power to appoint two more people if they see fit.”
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